Sunday, June 21, 2009

Red and Yellow


This is a yellow tarp-like material covering part of a children's ride (the red) in a little amusement park beside the Sava River. The colors reminded me of Tibetan Buddhist monks' garments, and so I did a little research to what these colors mean to them.
The color red is auspicious in Tibetan culture. It is a sacred color, one of the colors of a monk's garments. It is believed to have protective qualities and is therefore often used to paint sacred buildings.
Yellow is has the highest symbolic value in Buddhism through its link with the saffron robes of monks. This color was chosen by Buddha as a symbol of his humility and separation from materialist society. It thus signifies renunciation, desirelessness, and humility.
Yellow is the color of earth, and thus a symbol of rootedness and the equanimity of the earth.

6 comments:

The Good Life in Virginia said...

interesting background info about the colors red/yellow as they apply to the buddhists.
have a wonderful sunday.

Carraol said...

Great information and beautiful color composition. Have a wonderful time.

Tash said...

Marvellous colors and symbolism. It's neat to follow your train of thought on this.

soulbrush said...

your photos are amazing on their own but the information always adds to them.thanks for the time and effort you put into these posts and have a great holiday.is it the wedding?

Chuck Pefley said...

Thanks for doing this research ... and now it's no wonder to me why I gravitate toward these colors. Protective qualities, rootedness and equanimity. What's not to want with red and yellow?

Alexa said...

Great photo—and description. Many many years ago, a friend and I shared a tiny apartment in Paris, and we decorated it entirely in red and yellow. We had no specific reason for choosing those colors, but we always felt good in that little place. Thanks for the lesson.

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